I am planning to offer a couple of Vegan Cooking Classes in Longview WA next month, and am currenly looking for a host. What do I mean by that?
Instead of renting a facility, like I did last year [and enjoyed it], this time around I would like to find someone who is very passionate about learning healthful living and improving health and shedding pounds through indulging in scruptious and delicious recipes.
A host should be willing to make his/her kitchen and dining room available for me to teach participants how to make amazing vegan dishes and share nutrition Whats and Hows.
An ideal setting would be an open spacious kitchen with a lot of counter space, and enough room to fit in 6-10 participants.
A host will receive a free lesson and a few course meal to boot :)!
If you are interested or know someone with an ideal setting who might be, please contact me via e-mail at elena.wilkins[at]gmail[dot]com [please replace [at] with @ and [dot] with a period]. I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Yes, I know that the title is long, but the subject is very interesting.
Growing up overseas fermented food was a part of our daily diet. For the most part it was raw fermented sauerkraut, which we used in soups and salads. I never thought that we intentionally fermented cabbage for its health benefits—it was a fringe benefit for sure, we simply did it to preserve enough cabbage to last us through the winter and until the next season of fresh harvest. I remember the days when my Dad would work hard shredding cabbage for hours on a huge mandoline-line slicker, while Mom and we would grate carrots. In the end we would mix it all together, sometimes adding other ingredients, massage everything with salt, place in a huge vat, put heavy stones on top to help the juices come out, and leave it to ferment. We never had to buy sauerkraut from a store in a jar.
We also occasionally made kombucha. You can read about it here.
Having moved to the US we slowly drifted away from our roots, since there is an abundance of fresh foods year around. It was not until last year when I started to reintroduce fermented foods into our diet. I started by making kombucha at home, then I started to buy sauerkraut to add to salads, and recently I was reminded just how simple fermenting veggies could be in the comfort of my home.
fermenting my own vegetables by a couple of other bloggers: Pure2Raw and Kristen's Raw [thank you, ladies]. Although I bought a set or probiotics, which I am planning to take for 1 month only, I realize the need for an ongoing intake of good bacteria. On Pure2Raw blog I was noticing the very colorful fermented veggies the twins were eating and I got super jealous! Their fermented food looked more exciting than my boring, lonely sauerkraut I got from a store. It was time to change that! So, last night I headed to the store and got a whole bunch of COLORFUL veggies I wanted to ferment, and then I went to shredding and slicing. By the end of the night I had eye candy: TA-DA!
I am hoping that by now you are interested in trying your hand in fermenting your own vegetables. It is super easy—anyone can do it! The only cost that is involved is what you pay for groceries and a little bit of your time.
However anxious you might be to find out all the HOW TOs, I would like to tell you about the benefits of fermented foods first.
Why Fermented Food? 1. Fermented foods introduce GOOD bacteria into our gut flora, giving it a PRO-biotic quality; 2. Fermented foods can help to reduce high cholesterol levels in our blood; 3. It strengthens and supports our digestive and immune systems, helping our bodies to fight off and prevent diseases; 4. Good bacteria help our bodies to detoxify 5. Good bacteria inhibits harmful microorganisms, thus fighting off infections 6. Fermented products are a great source of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals; 7. The process of fermentation increases the amounts of some vitamins; 8. Fermented vegetables are a great source of Vitamin C. [In ancient times Sauerkraut was often served as military rations to prevent scurvy.] 9. The process of fermentation increases the bioavailability of fermented foods. 10. Humans have consumed fermented vegetables for thousands of years. [Kimchi, a fermented spicy cabbage, is a staple food in Korea. Kimchi is very well-studied for its medicinal, antimicrobial, and anti-aging properties. Scientists found that chickens infected with avian flu started to recover after being fed a kimchi extract]; 11. Fermented cabbage is actually easier to digest than unfermented cabbage, since some of “digestion” has been started in the fermentation process; 12. Fermenting vegetables provides preservation, nutrition, flora, fiber, ease of digestion and flavor.
Why Ferment Veggies at Home? The sauerkraut and other fermented vegetable you buy in the store may have little to no live active lacto-bacteria cultures because it is pasteurized, which kills bacteria. In addition to that fermenting at home will cost you only a fraction of what you would pay at the store.
What Can be Fermented? Almost any vegetables can be fermented.
Organically grown vegetables are your best option: they are free from synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and contain more lactic acid bacteria.
Cabbage is the most ideal vegetable for fermentation, since it contains an abundance of lactic acid bacteria, as well as a good amount of vitamin C and some vitamin A. Onions and tomatoes are good complements for fermentation with other vegetables. Fermented onion is mild and relatively easily digested.
How to Ferment? Here is a quick Guide of How Tos, details can be found below by watching a video.
1. Vegetables should be shredded, sliced or cut into small pieces—this will accelerate the fermentation process. 2. Vegetables should be crushed/massaged with salt to release their juices. 3. Use chlorine-free water; if your tap water is chlorinated, boil it for at least 10 minutes, then allow it to cool. 4. Make sure that your hands, utensils and containers should are well cleansed and free of residual soap. 5. Use non-iodized salt only [sea or Himalayan salt will provide you with additional minerals]; 6. Salt prevents both the overgrowth of yeast and the breakdown of vegetable proteins before enough lactic acid builds up to have a preservative effect. When making fermented vegetables, the salinity requirement is 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of salt per 2 pounds of vegetables. Saline water (1 tablespoon of salt per quart of water) should be added to cover the vegetables by at least an inch. 7. A proper initial temperature is 68 to 72 degrees for two to three days, which starts the fermentation. Then store the vegetables at 58 to 64 degrees for four to six weeks. After this time, it’s good to store them at 40 to 60 degrees, which is adequate for keeping the vegetables for a year or more. 8. Common spices for flavor include dill, mustard seed, juniper berries, caraway seeds, bay leaves, red pepper, coriander and many others. Raspberry leaves offer lactic acid bacteria as well as flavor. 9. Sliced horseradish root is added for its preservative qualities as well as its flavor, and often this is layered on top of the vegetables. 10. The best everyday containers to use for fermenting at home are glass jars with screw-on lids. 11. The lids must be very lightly screwed down during initial fermentation. 12. Individual jars may experience different rates of fermentation. Push down on the lids — if they are popped up and you feel any resistance, release the gas by loosening the lids. Be careful when attempting this technique and keep the jars covered with a towel to protect yourself. 13. There are special crocks sold specifically for fermenting, if you wish to get more sophisticated and involved with the process. 14.Veggies can be cut by hand or using a food processor or a mandolin slicer [I use V-shaped straight blade for cabbage, and smallest divided blade for other vegetables, although I did use a food processor for shredding carrot for my cabbage-and-carrot batch].
My Ingredients Last night I started 2 separate batches
Batch 1 Red Cabbage, shredded Zucchini, sliced Carrots, sliced Beets, sliced Salt
Batch 2 White Cabbage, shredded Carrots, grated in a food processor Dill Green Onion Salt
To make my life MUCH easier, the ladies of Pure2Raw blog had posted a video of how they prepare their food for fermentation. The videos are easy to follow and are fool-proof, I promise.
I am planning to let me veggies ferment for more than 3 days [if I can help it], and over the weekend start a couple of more batches, so I don’t ever run out of my good, all natural, organic probiotics ever again. And just imagine the possibilities with these beauties.
I hope you enjoyed finding out this new and inspiring information. Now, get off the computer, make a list of veggies you want to ferment, and head to the store—DON’T WASTE ANY TIME!
It has been a long day: a full day at work, making dinner, which was quite simple, actually, then painting and THEN jumping into the kitchen headlong to make fermented veggies and kombucha. I will post more tomorrow--I even have pictures ready, but now I must take my leave and get a little break for my body and brain.
Yesterday was my birthday. It was amazing! Demetrey took care of the breakfast, then we spiffed up and headed out to Vancouver, WA [bigger town than Longview, so there are certainly more things to do there ;) ]. But before we took off Demetrye treated me to my own mini photo session.
And, of course, we had to do it right and do a few shots together [timer and a tripod come in helpful].
[I love him, love him, love him... and he is handsome to boot ;) ].
Then we headed out.
Because we are still on the Daniel Fast and I am doing a sugar cleanse at the same time, we stopped by a Whole Foods and had a great lunch there. We visited their Salad Bar and loaded up on lots of raw veggies and a few falafels.
When we started to eat what we had neat looking plates, with everything slightly separated. However, my taste buds got bored very quickly. I grabbed their Balsamic Vinaigrette and had a little tossing party. And... HALLELUJAH! my taste buds were in heaven!
On the way out we stopped by one of their tasting stations. The lady that was at the stand, Eva, was giving kombucha samples. But let me tell you that it was not any kombucha that you might have tasted to date--hers are absolutely amazing, made with various healing herbs and tasty... oh, so tasty. Her product is called Herbucha because of the herbs in it. I tasted 3 different flavors: Detox, Immune support and Relax. My two favorite flavors were Immune Support and Relax, very light, yet with your expected kombucha zing, with a great herbal/flowery taste. At first I was reluctant to spend $3.99 on a bottle of this super-delicious drink, but then I remembered that I still did not have my fermented food for the day, and it was my b-day... AND it was SOOOOOOOOOO delicious that I could not pass it up. So I walked out of the store with a bottle of Herbucha: I enjoyed EVERY sip of it, until it was gone. I wish I had gotten two!
If you are in or around Portland/Vancouver area you should check out this amazing kombucha drink [I mean it, and no one is paying me to say this]. Click on this link to find a list of locations that carries Eva's elixir [at least that is what I am calling it].
After lunch we hung out at a book store [my choice, and we both love books], and then went to see Avatar in 3D. Wowzers! The movie is long, but I could not tell, because I was so sucked into it. I would go see it again in a heartbeat… as long as I don’t have to pay for ridiculously expensive 3D tickets, however, yesterday it was so worth it. Oh, and I was slowly sipping on my Herbucha. Too bad it was gone before the movie could even start. Although it might be a good thing also, because lots of liquids and long movies don't mix well.
After the movie we headed back to town… and things got even more interesting. We were passing through Woodland when I noticed, what I thought, a woman walking on the side of the freeway, alone… in the dark. Demetrye and I pulled over and waited for the “woman” to catch up. Well, thankfully, it was not a woman walking alone. It was a man, who was hitch-hiking from LA to Belinghelm, WA [sorry if I spelled the town wrong]. So, we decided that the guy should not freeze himself and gave him a ride to the local shelter. However… on the way we decided to stop by a Subway and get him a meal. We were going to be in and out, so I left my purse in the car, made sure that the car was locked and we headed inside.
The man picked his meal, and as Demetrye was getting ready to pay for it, his facial expression changed. “Where are the keys, hon?” Ah-oh! Since we got married we locked our keys in the car twice and ever since then I always made sure to have a spare on ME. This time… nope. I thought we’ll in and out and I would rather not drag my person with me. BIG MISTAKE! Turns out that Demetrye left the keys in the ignition and I did not even do my usual: “Honey, do you have the keys?” check before getting out of the car. Ouch!
Well, thankfully I have very skilled family members, all within minutes away. And THANKFULLY we were already in Kelso, only minutes from home. I called up my nephew [thank you, Adrew], and while the man was enjoying his meal, Andrew and Demetrye freed the keys.
Surely not a night we would easily forget!
When we got home, Demetrye spoiled me a bit more and gave me a full body massage, and I nearly fell asleep dreaming of the gift he is getting me this year: Canon Powershot SD780IS with HD video!!! Sounds silly, but I am so excited to get a point and shoot camera, especially considering that it has video capabilities also. I don’t like to drag my Canon around with me everywhere now–too big and too heavy just for snapshots. Once I get my tiny P&S I will be unstoppable :) .
I hate to think that my perfect weekend is coming to an end.
Good day, all of you good people! I just wanted to add a quick post to let you know that I will be taking a couple of days off to celebrate my b-day! Yes, even crazy food bloggers need a day off on their birthday.
Food-wise I am not planning anything huge, just a nice breakfast. I am still sticking with my Daniel Fast and Candida cleanse, so no sugars for me [I will talk about Candida cleanse in the weeks to come, after the Daniel Fast is over]. But what we are going to lack in the food department we are more than going to make up in fun.
I am a bit of a workout nerd, so I will probably start off my morning tomorrow with an hour-hour and a half of Power Yoga, then my regular green smoothie, dry brushing, shower, etc., and then my hubby and I are going to take off to either Vancouver or Portland to enjoy ourselves.
As for now, here are a couple of snapshots of the last night’s dinner: Whole Wheat Wraps, Whole Wheat Crisps and a whole lot of veggies with hummus and sprouts [when I am back I will tell you about benefits of sprouting].
And this is me, fresh and clean after an intensive Power Yoga workout. [sorry about, the camera and the mirror, but I had no one else around to shap a shot of me ;)].
As promised, I am adding more scrumptious dishes for the Daniel Fast. These dishes are also safe for Candida cleanse, if you are doing one now, which would be a great way to benefit from the fast. I will cover that topic in the near future, though.
Meanwhile, I was inspired to make the first dish by flipping through Rachel Ray's magazine.
Spring Pesto with While Wheat Penne
Ingredients
1 bag of whole wheat organic penne pasta
10 oz of frozen peas, thawed
1 cup basil leaves
2 handfuls soaked and dehydrated walnuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp grated lemon peel
Sea or Himalaya salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preparation
Cook pasta according to directions on the package, salting the water
Drain pasta, almost completely, leaving a little bit of liquid in
In a food processor, blend half the peas with basil, walnuts, olive oil, and lemon peel until coarsely chopped
Add pesto to pasta and combine, adding remaining peas
Sprinkle with pepper and enjoy!
Next dish is very simple and is one of my husband's favorites.
Rice and Corn Ingredients
2 cups cooked brown rice
2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/3 red onion, diced
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
2-3 tbs hemp seed or extra virgin olive oil
salt and spices to taste
2 tbs fresh dill, chopped
Mix all ingredients and enjoy!
And as promised, here is the recipe for.... Falafels
I found a recipe that looks super delicious on www.bittersweet.com blog. Since the post was about breaking rules, I broke them by changing up the recipe a little to please my taste buds. I have not tried to make these raw yet, since I was pressed for time, but you can make them RAW or COOKED. Ingredients • 2 cups soaked sunflower seeds [soak overnight or for at least 4 hours] • ½ cup tahini paste • 1 cup chopped celery • 2-3 cloves of garlic • 2 tbs dried or 4 tbs freshly chopped parsley • 1 scallion or 1-2 shoot of green onion, chopped • 1 cups cooked garbanzo beans • 2 tsp cumin • 1-1.5 tsp sea or Himalayan salt • Paprika for sprinkling on top
Preparation • Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well mixed but with small chunks • Use a small ice cream scoop or a teaspoon to create balls. • If you are using a teaspoon, like I did, place ingredients into your hand and roll it into a perfect ball, and then place either on a dehydrator mesh sheet for RAW version, or a parchment covered baking sheet for BAKED version • Sprinkle with Paprika
For Cooked Version • Preheat oven to 375 F and baked until falafels are slightly crisp on the outside but still feel soft on the inside [about 20-25 minutes] For RAW version • Place balls on a dehydrator mesh sheet and dehydrate at 118 F for 6-8 hours, looking for the same qualities as in cooked version: crisp on the outside, soft on the inside
To enjoy falafels, use on a salad as seen in yesterday's post or inside a Whole Wheat Wrap
I hope you will find these dishes as we did. Make enough to last you a few days so you can get the extra time in prayer and meditation.
It’s a bit late, but I promised I will be posting more recipes for the fast—I kept my promise and spend a few hours in the kitchen on my day off creating, tasting and enjoying these foods that I am about to share.
When I made these dishes, I made larger portions so I would not have to spend every day in the kitchen, just like I would advise anyone to do, especially since this is a fast, which means we abstain from foods in some way—for me it is not only by cutting out foods from my regular diet, but also by spending less time in the kitchen, and more time alone with God.
I am going to break up the foods that I made into two different posts, since there are way too many recipes for one post and it is way too late to be blogging, albeit it this will post in the morning.
So, without further ado, here are several meals that will delight your taste buds, while cleansing your body.
Whole Wheat Crisps Ingredients
• 5 tbs extra virgin olive oil; you will need another ¼ cup for later use to oil crackers* • 2 cups water • 6.5 cups whole wheat or hard white unfine flour [you might need about ¼ cup more for rolling out dough later] • 2-2.5 tsp sea or Himalayan salt • 1tbs your favorite seasoning [I use Kirkland organic blend]
Preparation • Preheat oven to 375 F • If you have a bread machine, set it on Dough cycle; feel safe to pull out dough after 30-40 minutes, since it is unleavened and you won’t have to wait for it to rise • If you don’t have a bread machine, combine all ingredients, saving water to be added last, little by little, adding more flour in the end if needed; then knead dough until elastic • When dough is ready, divide into 10 equal parts • Roll out each part—you can choose to make some of the parts as tortillas for Whole Wheat Wraps [see below] and some for crackers • When dough is rolled out thin, brush a little bit of oil on each side, so Crisps come out crispier, then take a knife or a pizza roller and cut it into any shape you might like
• Bake until light golden and slightly crisp—the pieces will get more crisp after sitting out for a while • Cool and serve on their own or with a topping of Hummus [recipe below].
While Wheat Wraps
• Same recipe as above, you can even choose to split dough half way • Preheat a skillet on medium-high • Roll out each dough part into a circle • Drop on the hot skillet, moving the piece in the beginning so it does not get stuck • Flip over and repeat until done [you should be able to see when it is cooked through or slightly golden in parts] • Fill with any filling you desire
We made our wraps with Hummus, Garden Salad [recipes below] and Falafuls [recipe coming tomorrow]
Elena’s Hummus
One of my favorite things to eat, but it seems that is so not only for me but for the rest of my family too. I made enough last night to last us 3 days, but it was gone before today’s dinner.
Note: soak overnight or for several hours; when soaking make sure to cover beans with water completely so that water line goes above beans about 2-3 fingers width high—it will all be absorbed—will yield 8 cooked cups of beans [you can use the other 4 to make another helping of this recipe or to add to other dishes]
Ingredients • 4 cups cooked garbanzo beans [aka chickpeas] • Juice of 1.5 lemon • 1.5 cup water • 4-5 large cloves of garlic • 7 tbs tahini paste • 1 ¼ tsp sea or Himalayan salt • 2 tbsp favorite seasoning [I used a blend of organic seasonings, you can also try cumin, if you do, start with 2 tsp and work your way up depending on how much you might like]
Preparation • Place all ingredients, starting with water into a high speed blender that has some sort of temper [an instrument to push down solid ingredients and keep the mixture going] • Start the blender and increase speed to high slowly—make sure not to burn your motor • Blend until smooth • Use immediately or refrigerate
Garden Salad • 2 hearts of Romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped • 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced in a way you like • 1/3 red onion sliced • 2 avocados, cubed • Any other vegetable of your choice, such as a cucumber • Toss all ingredients together and dress with • Sea or Himalayan salt to taste • Sprinkle with your favorite seasoning • 2-3 tbs extra virgin olive oil or hemp seed oil • 2-3 tbs apples cider or balsamic vinegar [optional] • Toss everything together and enjoy!
More recipes coming tomorrow—I did not waste my day off, that much I can promise you : )
If you follow my blog then you probably noticed an area on the right hand side ------->>>> where you can sign up for the Newsletter. If you are not sure why you should do it, here is one BIG reason: there are certain topics that I discuss ONLY with my Newsletter audience. With time there will be more perks offered to the Newsletter audience ONLY. So, to make sure you don't miss out, go ahead and drop your name and e-mail address ---------->>>>>>>>>> there.
Today I kicked off a series of Myth Busters: Protein, Sugar, Fat and Supplements, all of which will be covered in the Newsletter. Today's topic was Protein--all you would ever want to know about it. If you still want to get this edition of Newsletter, go ahead and sign up, before the next come comes out and I will automatically send it to you.
If you are following us on Daniel Fast, I hope your Day #5 of Daniel Fast went well.
I ended up feeling a bit drained last night so I lived off of leftovers and did not make what I wanted, but I have plans to catch up tomorrow! That is my commitment.
The food we had today was certainly delicious and nutritious.
We had energy packed green smoothies for breakfast. [Remember you can make them with fruit only, however greens add so much more your body can benefit from].
For lunch we had soup made with veggies, rice and beans. And for dinner we went all out! We had soup leftovers, whole wheat crackers with avocado dip, and whole wheat wraps with a delicious filling--check it out. [I know that these cell phone snaps do not look very scruptious but I was way too hungry and waiting to dig in to get out my camera and do it the right way.]
Whole Wheat Crackers • It is quite simple, follow recipe from this post to make torilla bread, however add your favorite organic seasoning to the mix and 4 tbs of olive oil. • Preheat the oven to 375 F • After rolling out dough, place on a baking sheet and bake until bread becomes brittle and easily breakable. Some parts of bread will be golden brown while others will remain the same light brown color [color of flour you are using]. • When done, take out from the oven, cool off a little, then break into pieces of any size you like.
Whole Wheat Wraps • Same dough, same concept, only this time bake dough until it is baked through yet remains pliable • Take out of the oven and cover
Avocado Spread • 2 avocados, mashed with a fork or a spoon • Salt and seasoning to taste • 1 tbs apple cider vinegar [optional]
You can dip into the spread with Whole Wheat Crackers, or spread on your Wrap before laying out other ingredients to make it creamier.
Wrap Filling/Salad • 1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped • 2-3 Roma tomatoes, sliced lengthwise • 1-2 avocados, cubed [I later searately added 1/2 sliced avocado to my wrap] • 3 tbs olive oil • seasoning and salt to taste • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
Mix all ingredients and fill your Whole Wheat Wrap with them.
Are you having a recipe overload? Well, my stomach had certainly enjoyed the whole meal!
Tomorrow we are planning to feast on energy filled green smoothies, lots of water; I will also be making falafels [I found this delectable recipe on a blog of a wonderfully talented lady Hannah] to have with salads, and whatever else comes our way.
For the next couple of days, here is the menu I propose for you, dear Daniel Fasters.
You can find some Fast Friendly Desserts here, if you are craving some, although I would suggest not to overindulge in sweets, albeit they come in the form of fruit.
Take the time tomorrow and Sunday to do all of your shopping and preparation for the week to come: precook some rice and other grains, beans; chop greens and veggies, and some fruit [which you can freeze], so you do not have to feel like you live in the kitchen.
I am hoping to take some time tomorrow to blog a menu for next week, so I hope you come back to check it.
And here is my ghetto take of me in my work-out getup (I work out at home). I normally do not indulge in posting pics of myself, however, I thought it is about time I reminded the world what I look like ;).
Now, onto things that are more beneficial.
While fasting, especially in the last couple of days, I personally felt that the Lord is already leading me to help resolve one of my most pressing needs and I am very grateful and MOST excited. I am once again reminded that He will withhold no good thing from us, when we ask, if we abide in Him.
In the next few days I am going to blog [hoping to blog] about the plan of action I resolved to take regarding further adjusting my Daniel Fast diet. It will be an interesting read, I promise you.
What about you? What are you facing during this fasting time? What are your victories?
Day 3 was our “eating our leftovers” day, although I purposefully was making more than enough for the two days before that so our food would last us longer. Today, Day 4, will be no exception—leftovers and green smoothies.
So, for us it was: yams, borsch, and green smoothies. Today it will be: green smoothies, fruit, nuts, brown rice mixed with corn and beans.
For Dinner I am planning to make Falafels that I spotted on a blog I follow: BitterSweet Vegan Recipes. The author of the blog is quite a lady--whips up new amazing recipe accompanied by gorgeous images all the time. Thanks, Hannah! [By the way, Hannah has a book published, for those who love to indulge in some vegan dessert, and a few e-books you can find on her site. Although my overall guidelines are much more strict, I find a lot of inspiration on Hannah's blog.]
For now, here is a recipe to the smoothie I whipped up this morning. Enjoy!
Pear Green Smoothie [nourishing recipe] Makes 2-3 servings2 cups water
1 large ripe pear
4 plums
4 cups beet greens [for protein, iron and chlorophyl, among other wonderful things]
1/4 cup dulse [for iodine--great for thyroid health]
3 tbs hemp seed [for your protein, Omega 3, 6, and 9]
3 tbs maca poweder [iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and a whole lot of other great things along with a boost of energy]
Blend everything until smooth and enjoy it! It is pleasantly sweet.
Tonight, if I whip up something special, which I am planning to do, I will make sure to take some images so you can actually see what I am talking about [I love recipes with images myself]. So, until then, stay strong and...
Hello, world! It is time to recap our Day 2 of Daniel Fast.
Personally I can tell you that I felt great at the end of the day. Over the weekend, before the fast started, my body fought come kind of a bug, but thankfully, due to my clean diet and prayer, it never developed into anything except a couple of days of deep, raspy voice and one day of minor discomfort. Last night, by the time I went to bed I felt fabulous and was ready to conquer the world.
For breakfast we had fruit and for brunch a little bit of the pasta leftovers from Day 1. I finished off my lunch at about noon. I was on the road [work related travel] yesterday, so Demetrye and I ended up stopping by Whole Foods in Vancouver for a quick bite. We had their black rice with veggies in it, which was pretty fabulous.
I kept drinking lemon/cinnamon water throughout the day to help my scratchy throat.
For early dinner we had Borsh [see recipe by clicking on the link], and for later dinner I went all out and whipped up flat bread tortillas made with hard white whole grain flour [it’s almost the same as whole wheat grain only slightly lighter in color].
DANIEL FAST TORTIALLAS To make tortillas I used the aid of a bread machine.
1.5C water 3.5C flour [whole wheat or hard white whole grain] 1 tsp Himalayan salt
• Place in a bread machine and let it knead for 25-30 minutes, adding more flour if needed. If you do not have a bread machine or another kind of contraption to help you knead the dough you will need to do it by hand. If you do, I suggest using warm water, which will make your job easier. • When the dough was ready divide it into 8 equal parts • Pre-heat a skillet on medium heat setting. • Oil the skillet with about 1-2 teaspoons of sunflower oil. • Drop first tortilla on the skillet and start moving it so it does not stick to the skillet. • Flip over and do the same on the other side. When parts of tortilla turn golden—it is done. • Place cooked bread on a plate and cover so it remains pliable. • You won’t need to add any more oil to finish the rest of tortillas.
Tortilla Filling • Chop 1C spinach • Dice 4 Roma tomatoes and 1 avocado; mix them together and season with salt and 1T red wine vinegar. • 2C yellow corn, seasoned [you can defrost frozen corn if you don’t have fresh] • Brown rice
[Earlier in the day I presoaked 3C brown rice, which was cooking with 2tsp of salt while I was making tortillas.]
To assemble a tortilla [the way we did], take the bread, spread some brown rice on it, yams, tomatoes with avocados, spinach and corn.
Enjoy it!
While the bread machine was hard at work I prepared DELICIOUS yams. Making them was super easy.
DANIEL FAST YAMS 1 large yam, peeled and cubed 1 large onion, peeled and cubed Himalayan salt to taste 1 tsp Kirkland organic mix spice [use whatever might please your taste buds] 2-3T cold pressed sunflower oil
• Preheat the skillet on medium-medium high, add oil and salt to it. • Add yams and onions. • Stir occasionally so yams don’t stick to the skillet. • Turn heat to medium and cover. • Cook until yams are soft.
I can tell you that is was my FAVORITE DISH FOR THE NIGHT… I am planning to have leftovers for lunch today.
*please do not use non-stick pans for cooking—they are laden with chemicals that are harmful to your body and can cause serious problems, such as hormone disruption, infertility in man and women, and heavy metal poisoning.
I will check back with you tomorrow again.
If you are following the Daniel Fast, let me know how you are doing or what would be helpful for you to see on this blog.
Good morning, folks! Just wanted to check in with you and see how your Day 1 of Daniel Fast went.
For us it was quite enjoyable. We started off our morning with a Green Smoothie. Throughout the day drank lots of water, some with lemon, some plain. I had a scratchy throat so for my therapy I threw in a stick of Cinnamon in some hot water and sipped on it all day long. I am feeling better today.
For snacks we munched on fruit and avocados.
Lunch was very light veggie soup, which I did not seem to have enough of.
Our church is starting Daniel Fast [21-day vegan based fast] tomorrow morning. It is quite awesome that my whole diet is pretty much structured around what would be considered Daniel Fast approved. So, I took it into my capable hands to guide those who might be struggling or need a little help through the fast, helping them with suggestions, tips and recipes. I will be blogging quite a bit between the two blogs in the days to come.
You can find out all of the details about Daniel Fast HERE. I will be adding more content in the days to come. Meanwhile I already put together a daily meal planner for the fist half of this week for the fast. You can find it HERE. This should make Daniel Fast a breeze for most--just follow the meal planner and keep your eyes on the goal!
If you are interested to join us on the fast, PLEASE DO! Visit the Daniel Fast home page and leave a note, if you wish, to let us know what you are fasting for so we can support you in prayer.
I am VERY, VERY excited and cannot wait to hear about all the changes that will happen in my friends' lives: spiritually, mentally and physically.
For me it will also be an adventure. Demetrye and I have a couple of needs that we need clarity about, so we will be taking extra time to seek God's direction. We will also give up some of the foods that are now in our diet: herbal teas, leavened breads, honey. We will reduce oil intake and consume more water. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about that. I will be introducing even more Vegan Recipes that are Daniel Fast approved in the days to come.
Until next blogging time, LIVE AN UNPROCESSED LIFE!
I had a LONG, LONG, LONG DAY! I have been through four cities, had a presentation, a consultation, did grocery shopping for our 21 day Daniel Fast [more on this coming soon] and a business mixer. Thankfully I packed some of my food on the road: lots of fruit, a green smoothie I made this morning, a green salad and a couple of other things, along with lots of water.
My hubby, who has tons of work to do, but loves me so much, went along with me, first to Camas, then Vancouver, WA, then Portland OR, and then finally to Cathlamet. He is just that good.
So there was much going on today, but I am so tired I have no energy to tell you much, except I have to share a very funny story.
My hubby, bless his heart, has been slacking with his water intake. I have been thinking of ways to get him more hydrated, and today, after months of begging, pleading and threatening, I was finally able to strike a deal with him [he used to be so much better with this before he became a realtor].
How did I pull it off? Well, he has been complaining about a couple of extra pounds he does not seem to be able to get rid of. I told him how it could be due to his constant dehydration. Our bodies need water! We are made of water! So, when we don't drink enough of it our body may developed a pattern of storing water. This water retention equals extra unwanted weight. Simple!
The lights came on! I think I even heard the angels break out in a heavenly chorus. But I had one more challange to overcome. He was conviced now! All I have to do is make water drinking fun and attractive. We happened to be at the Whole Foods, so I slowly led him to the water isle... I picked out the prettiest water bottle I could find--VOSS--and bought it for him. He LOVED it!
We emptied their carbonated water [nasty tasting stuff] and filled the whole 27 oz with clean, filtered water. In less than an hour the bottle was EMPTY, and he refilled it!
This is when the story gets a little interesting. We were 50 miles away from home!
His body that was not used to so much water at the same time was evacuating extra liquids very FAST [don't tell him I am blogging about it, or he will never speak to me again ;)]. From Portland we had to drive straight to Cathlamet, about 60-70 miles. We ended up pulling over 3 times! Needless to say we were 20 minutes late, but I had my share of picking on him.
Here is the general rule everyone needs to follow with water intake: you need to drink half of your body weight in ounces a day. Got it? Repeat after me: HALF OF MY BODY WEIGHT IN OUNCES A DAY! But do also remember that you should not drink it all at the same time, spread it throughout the whole day! or you will experience what my hubby did, or even hurt yourself. [true story by the way, you might want to read it].
So, if you are 200 lbs, you need to drink 100 oz. of water, if you are 120 lbs, you will need 60 oz of water, etc.
By increasing fluids you will be flushing out toxins and teaching your body that it no longer needs to store water. Be sure the water is filtered and free from chemicals.
Question of the day: what has been your experience when you increased your water intake? Or, if you are not drinking enough water, how are you planning to change it?
I was so flattered this morning when I found out that another blogger, Kori, nominated me for Happy 101 award. Wowzers ;) Kori has a blog called Kori Runs Dogs full of vegan and raw recipes.
So, here are the award rules, which I am copying from Kori’s blog: First: Copy the award image in your post. Then, list 10 things that make you happy, try to do at least one of them today, and tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.
For those 10 bloggers who get the award, you must link back to my blog!….the last part..only if you want too!
Oy Vey! What a challenge! I am normally pretty private about things that make me happy, but here it goes [I am trying my best here, you see].
10 things that make me happy: 1. I love waking up in a good mood. There is nothing like opening my eyes first thing in the morning with a song in my heart [like today], and a silly grin on my face. But to wake up in a good mood one also must go to bed in a good mood. So, happy, positive attitude toward life in general makes it possible.
2. Knowing that my life has been redeemed for ETERNITY by my Jesus makes me happy and giddy all at the same time. I LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM, LOVE HIM!
3. Gazing into my husband’s eyes with nothing to interrupt us makes me VERY happy! I see OUR future in his eyes. When he looks at me I feel everything fading away, and it is just he and I, looking at each other, melting each other’s hearts, until nothing but love between us remains.
4. Dreaming and making extravagant plans together with my husband or by myself makes me happy. I am not sure if you have met a couple yet that can dream crazy dreams like we do. I suppose that is why we fell for each other ;).
5. A good workout that engages every muscle of my being makes me happy [I know that it sounds weird]. There are times I CRAVE a good work out!
6. Growing in the areas I am passionate about makes me happy. Discovering new things, applying them, and wowing others [I am talking about photography, nutrition and my Savior, of course;)].
7. Reading a good book, especially on a rainy day makes me happy. What makes it even better is if my love is right next to me, holding me or just touching my hand.
8. Making others feel loved and appreciated makes me VERY happy. Helping someone discover their potential, their talent is super extraordinary.
9. Playing with a little child makes me fabulously happy.
10. A clean kitchen and kitchen and photography gadgets make me happy also.
So, you already know more than you want to about me. Now it is time to nominate 10 other bloggers. Drum roll, please:
Delicious food was on my radar today. I craved CARBS and to satisfy them I whipped up a glass of Raw Chocolate Hemp Milk... but that's in a moment. Before I get there, I will tell you all about my lunch... just because I want to ;).
My knight-in-shining-armor picked me up for lunch and I had overall only 30 minutes to whip something up. It had to be something very quick and easy, and totally vegan, of course. Green Salad was a must, since I have been craving greens lately. But what else? Luckily I had a couple of huge potatoes, peeled and ready to go. So, while I chopped greens, I fired up the stove and got potatoes to cooking.
Green Salad It was super simple: green leafy lettuce, 4 stems of celery, chopped, 1C of chopped parsley.
For dressing I combined 2T balsamic vinegar, 2T extra virgin olive oil and 3T sesame seeds.
Toss everything together and voila--salad served. If you so desire you can add your favorite spice [I added Kirkland Organic Mix], and a tad of salt.
Potatoes While my 2 extra large potatoes [chopped] where boiling with a tad of Himalayan salt, I sauteed 1/2 chopped onion in 2-3T extra virgin olive oil.
When potatoes were done, I had mine one-and-only mash them up in a little bit of boiling water [I did not strain potatoes completely], then we poured sauteed onions over potatoes and our lunch was ready!
Simple and simply delicious!
Now I am going to get to that Raw Chocolate Hemp Milk I mentioned.
When I got home from work I was craving carbs and could not seem to find a way to satisfy myself. After cleaning the kitchen a brilliant idea hit my taste buds. As much as I wanted to stay away from bread today, I was craving a slice of home-made toasted bread with a dash of salt on it and something creamy and sweet to contrast it. So... Raw Chocolate Hemp Milk was born.
Raw Chocolate Hemp Milk
Ingredients
1/3C raw whole hemp seeds
1 1/4C warm water [you can use cold water if you wish]
2 tsp raw honey
dash of salt to balance out the sweetness
1 heaping tsp raw cacao
Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend for 45-60 sec. If you wish you can strain hemp milk through a nut bag or a piece of cheese cloth, but I did not mind having everything left in my milk--after a minute in the Vita-Mix the seeds get pretty disintegrated and only added to the richness of the milk.
I had not one, but TWO servings of this deliciousness! Maybe one too many, but at least my craving was satisfied.
I toasted my home-made wheat bread on a heated skillet, having spread a tad of olive oil on both sides and salted it with Himalayan Salt. All I can say is YUM!
Hope you can satisfy your cravings with some awesome vegan food as well, when they come, so there is no sense of guilt, as you would have it after a pint of Ben and Jerry's ;).
Recently I started to follow a blog of the gorgeous Fitnessista, Gina. It happened right around the time when she blogged about The Lunge and Lift exercise, which works out glutes and hamstrings. Well, if you know me then you would have guessed that I had to try it for myself to see if and how it really works. I tried it on a couple of occasions and it was good. However, yesterday I increased my reps… and today I feel achy and LIFTED ;) Oh, if you could only feel what my glutes are feeling. Hmmm… I might have to rethink that sentence.
So, without further ado, here is fabulous Gina in her video. Try it and ENJOY!
Not all smoothies have to be made with greens! Sometimes, especially when you entertain, it is great to make cold fruit smoothies to quench hunger and indulge one's taste buds.
Three of my teenage nephews are visiting this weekend. We were sitting down for dinner when one of them asked: "Aunt Elena, do you have fruit?" It was so cute, because there was sitting a basket of fruit right in front of him, but he was working his way to something different. "Well, yes, I do," I replied. "Do you still have your blender?" "Oh, but of course, dear." I replied again. "Well," he said almost sheepishly, "can we make smoothies then... after dinner." And smoothies did we make!
So this movie is named in honor of my nephew.
Yanis' Fruit Smoothie
Ingredients
2 cups water
4 bananas
4 frozen plumbs
1 ripe pear
2T honey, only if there is not enough sweetness
Blend all ingredients until smooth. If you desire extra thickness, add frozen fruit at the end or add 1 cups of ice at the end.
When the three of them and my hubby got done with the first round, Maxim, my other nephew, wanted MORE, but with less bananas [different people, different tastes]. So we made up another one.
Maxim's Fruit Smoothie
1C water
1 banana
2C raspberries
Blend until raspberry seeds disintegrate, add
1 pear
4 frozen plums
1T honey, if needed
Believe it or not, the second blender-full of the second smoothie is already gone, and now my handsome men are enjoying a movie: "Inkheart".
Today, after a half hour Power Yoga/Pilates I indulged in a bowl of Raw Cucumber and Green Pea Soup, and then my hubby and my niece went for a 4 mile walk around the lake.
Here is my sweet hubby and I waiting for my niece to arrive. Isn't he handsome?!
After the walk I indulged myself in a soup that I created last night. It is made with Brown Rice and Adzuki Beans. I whipped up the soup to feed my guests so it is a large, LARGE portion.
Brown Rice and Bean Warming Soup
Ingredients
The recipe was made to feed a crowd, so if you are going to be feeding only a couple of people cut down on the ingredients, otherwise you will have enough to last you 3 days.
`6 Quarts water `2.5 cups brown rice `2 cups adzuki beans [if you presoak them you will cut down on the cooking time] `Sea or Himalayan salt to taste `1 bay leaf Bring water to boil with all of these ingredients, then reduce heat to low and let the ingredients cook until done.
`1/2 large egg plant, skinned and cubed into medium size chunks `1 onion, cubed `2 cloves of garlic, diced `2 large carrot, sliced in a manner you like `3-4T olive oil `2 cups of thingy sliced cabbage Saute these ingredients for 15-20 mins on low heat. When brown rice and beans have cooked through add sauteed ingredients in along with
`2 teaspoons chili powder `1T cumin
Boil together on low heat for 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro or basil. You can serve it by itself or add organic corn chips to the mix, and ENJOY!
Now I am off to dry-brush myself and take a long hot shower before tonight's movie night [my hubby's and niece's idea]. They also decided that they must have chocolate chip cookies [and you can only guess who has to bake those].
Last night my husband and I spent time with family, meeting the brand spanking new year 2010! We had a lot of delicious vegan food--my niece Anna is an amazing cook. I was responsible for dessert, so I made two of my famous apple pies [secret recipe ;)].
Since we stayed up late we indulged ourselves in a couple of extra hours of sleep this morning. Then Demetrye was off to watch the Buckeye game and I did an hour and a half of Power Yoga/Pilates with one of my nieces. The workout was AMAZING! Once I get myself a little digital camcorder [I have been dreaming of getting either Flip Ultra HD or Canon Powershot SD780IS--let me know if you have had experience with either], I will be able to record some of the awesome moves we do and post the on the blog.
After the workout I decided to power up my physical battery, so I whipped up a delicious raw soup. It was so good that I could not help myself but snap a shot of it and share it with you, so you can start your New Year on a strong foot too.
So, here is my new delicious
Cucumber and Green Pea Raw Soup
Ingredients `1C water `1/2C cashews `1C green peas `1 large cucumber [you can peel it if you wish] `1 clove of garlic `2-3 stems [with leaves] cilantro `Sea salt to taste `1/2 ripe avocado, cubed `1/2 ripe medium size tomato, diced
Preparation
Place all ingredients, except for tomato and avocado in a blender, such as Vita-Mix, and blend on high speed until creamy smooth consistency has been achieved
Pour soup into a deep bowl and garnish with diced tomato and avocado
I enjoyed my soup with a slice of freshly made whole wheat bread.
Now I am off to enjoy a movie [Inkheart], and my time alone.
Have a Happy New Year! Let me know how you started yours.
Instead of renting a facility, like I did last year [and enjoyed it], this time around I would like to find someone who is very passionate about learning healthful living and improving health and shedding pounds through indulging in scruptious and delicious recipes.
A host should be willing to make his/her kitchen and dining room available for me to teach participants how to make amazing vegan dishes and share nutrition Whats and Hows.
If you are interested or know someone with an ideal setting who might be, please contact me via e-mail at elena.wilkins[at]gmail[dot]com [please replace [at] with @ and [dot] with a period]. I am looking forward to hearing from you!
First: Copy the award image in your post.
After the walk I indulged myself in a soup that I created last night. It is made with Brown Rice and Adzuki Beans. I whipped up the soup to feed my guests so it is a large, LARGE portion.
